Neil & Tamara Caulkins’ guitar duo was awarded a grant through the Friends of the Grand Coulee to engage composer Martin Kennedy to write a suite for two guitars. Neil and Tamara set out on their tandem bicycle along with Martin (also an avid cyclist) to experience the Grand Coulee area. Inspired by the magnificent…
Cheese Tour in Washington State
A wonderful group of folks joined us for two days of cycling in Skagit and Whatcom counties. We went to three dairies south of Bellingham and three to the north, out of Ferndale. Here are the details below in case you would like to try these rides yourself. We camped at Bayview state park and…
In France with our Tandem!
We are off to the International Tandem Rally in the Netherlands but with stops in France and Belgium.
In the city of Mons, Belgium
Our next cycling adventure took us along the Belgian canal system to see what was once the largest boat lift in the world (until January 2015, when it was surpassed by a lift on the three dams project in China). On past the locks, we came to Mons, a busy, multicultural city with an enormous…
On to Belgium
Our friends had found a small apartment (called a “gite”) to rent for a few days on a farm near Bois en Villers. Starting from this plateau, we sped down the hill and along the Meuse river towards Namur, with its wonderfully ornate Baroque Jesuit cathedral of St. Loup. We then climbed up to the…
2016 International Tandem Rally
Back in Paris, we packed for the international tandem rally, being held this year in the south of the Netherlands. After a lunch in Lille, which consisted of two typical northern French dishes – a gingerbread spiced beef stew and a pork/chicken aspic – we joined over two hundred tandem teams from Australia,…
Castles in the Loire near Chambord
Over the next two days, we cycled to several smaller castles in the area including Villesavin, where one can see a remnant group of donkeys once widely used in this area. This domestic animal was once nearly extinct. The Chateau de Villesavin, built for the finance officer of François I, also houses a wonderful collection…
Blois and Chambord
We’re on the way to our campsite near Chambord (the castle our French friends said we must see). But first, Blois! This was on the way and the chateau was well worth the visit. A painting in the Blois chateau deserves mention. It is of Antonietta Gonsalvus. Raised in the court of Henry II, Antonietta…
cyclingwithtamaraandneil 